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|  | | | | | Skateboard Buyers Guide by Boardsports.com
Additional Buyers Guides-
Wheel Buyers Guide- Wheel Guide
Truck Buyers Guide- Truck Guide
Hola fellow long skaters (or soon to be). Hopefully this guide helps you determine what skate is right for you to start your longboard skating. If you haven't already figured it out, we are super stoked on longboard skating and try to keep up as one of the worldwide authorities on this amazing growing segment of skateboarding.
As the popularity of longboard skateboarding increases, so to have the number of longboard skateboards available on the market. Many of our customers are overwhelmed by the number of choices available to them at Boardsports, so to help simplify the buying process we have created this guide.
Many people are looking for their first Longboard and do not know where to start. Below are some commonly asked questions and answers to each.
What is the difference between a longboard skateboard and a regular skateboard?
This is often the first question people ask us. Most people are familiar with the standard size and shape of a street or trick board, usually measuring between 30-33" inches in length by about 7-8" inches in width.
For the sake of this article, we will call these skates street skates. Street skates historically have been commonly used for street, skatepark, and trick riding. A typical street skate will feature hard wheels and short trucks. Historically, these were far and away the most popular skates, and skaters used these for both transportation and trick/vert/park skating. With the growth of the longboard skate, the entire skating community is realizing that longboards & mini longboards are a far better skate for cruising, commuting, sidewalk surfing and just poking around than traditional street skates, which excel in Parks, Pipes, Bowls, Vert and for tricks.
Don't think for a minute that we don't like traditional skates!! We have a 1/2 pipe & rail in our warehouse and we use street skates everyday.
That said, we feel that longboards now have their place in the skate community as a legitimate skate product that can fuel many stokes for good fun, read on.
Longboard Skateboard Sizes
Longboard skateboards come in a wide range of sizes from a 24 inch “mini” to a 60 inch “Super Cruiser”. In general terms, Longboard skateboards are designed to move at faster rates of speed over greater distances than shortboards. Typical uses for longboard skateboards include flat land cruising, downhill racing, slalom, liquor store runs, campus cruisin’. Longboard skateboards generally have wider turnier trucks and softer, smoother riding wheels than shortboard skateboards.
Why is there such a wide range in prices?
Like any purchase you are considering, the old saying that you get what you pay for generally applies to Longboard skateboard purchases as well. That being said, you don’t have to pay $200 for you first Longboard skateboard unless you really want to. The rule of thumb at Boardsports is that any board over $100 usually comes with high quality components. Many of the lower end models that we sell are manufactured in China and do not come equipped with what we consider to be high quality components. These boards are generally adequate for beginners and basic flat land cruising, but we do not recommend them to anyone that wants to get serious about the sport.
Industry leaders like Sector 9, Gravity, Fibreflex, Arbor, and Madrid are names that you can trust for quality and cutting edge technology. They are constantly pushing the envelope to create progressive new products.
Boardsports has created it’s own in-house brand of longboards under the G2 name. We have our boards built by several of the industries leading manufacturers. By creating our own brand we are able to bring you high quality made in America products without paying for the name brand.
Decks
When buying a Longboard skateboard deck, there are many differences to consider. There are the obvious differences in size and shape, but a lot more can go into a Longboard deck than that! There are many other factors to consider that are before you buy your deck.
Standard maple decks
The most common Longboard decks are built with 8 or 9 ply hard Canadian maple. These are the standard longboard decks, and they are what we will be comparing the rest of the decks to in this article. Most companies will make a standard 7 ply (there's all kinds -- from Birdhouse to blank decks), though some will make other more specialized boards as well.
How do I know what size/ shape is right for me?
Because Boardsports carries such a large selection of longboard skateboard sizes and styles it is often hard to pick the right size for your riding style. Below is a chart that outlines the various styles and sizes of longboard skateboard deck and uses for each.
By no means is this a complete assesment as the market is changing rapidly. But this guide should help you understand some of the basic principals to help you purchase a skate and get in this exciting new part of skate.
Longboard Skateboard Buyer’s Guide
Hola fellow long skaters (or soon to be). Hopefully this guide helps you determine what skate is right for you to start your longboard skating. If you haven't already figured it out, we are super stoked on longboard skating and try to keep up as one of the worldwide authorities on this amazing growing segment of skateboarding.
As the popularity of longboard skateboarding increases, so to have the number of longboard skateboards available on the market. Many of our customers are overwhelmed by the number of choices available to them at Boardsports, so to help simplify the buying process we have created this guide.
Many people are looking for their first Longboard and do not know where to start. Below are some commonly asked questions and answers to each.
What is the difference between a longboard skateboard and a regular skateboard?
This is often the first question people ask us. Most people are familiar with the standard size and shape of a street or trick board, usually measuring between 30-33" inches in length by about 7-8" inches in width.
For the sake of this article, we will call these skates street skates. Street skates historically have been commonly used for street, skatepark, and trick riding. A typical street skate will feature hard wheels and short trucks. Historically, these were far and away the most popular skates, and skaters used these for both transportation and trick/vert/park skating. With the growth of the longboard skate, the entire skating community is realizing that longboards & mini longboards are a far better skate for cruising, commuting, sidewalk surfing and just poking around than traditional street skates, which excel in Parks, Pipes, Bowls, Vert and for tricks.
Don't think for a minute that we don't like traditional skates!! We have a 1/2 pipe & rail in our warehouse and we use street skates everyday.
That said, we feel that longboards now have their place in the skate community as a legitimate skate product that can fuel many stokes for good fun, read on.
Longboard Skateboard Sizes
Longboard skateboards come in a wide range of sizes from a 24 inch “mini” to a 60 inch “Super Cruiser”. In general terms, Longboard skateboards are designed to move at faster rates of speed over greater distances than shortboards. Typical uses for longboard skateboards include flat land cruising, downhill racing, slalom, liquor store runs, campus cruisin’. Longboard skateboards generally have wider turnier trucks and softer, smoother riding wheels than shortboard skateboards.
Why is there such a wide range in prices?
Like any purchase you are considering, the old saying that you get what you pay for generally applies to Longboard skateboard purchases as well. That being said, you don’t have to pay $200 for you first Longboard skateboard unless you really want to. The rule of thumb at Boardsports is that any board over $100 usually comes with high quality components. Many of the lower end models that we sell are manufactured in China and do not come equipped with what we consider to be high quality components. These boards are generally adequate for beginners and basic flat land cruising, but we do not recommend them to anyone that wants to get serious about the sport.
Industry leaders like Sector 9, Gravity, Fibreflex, Arbor, and Madrid are names that you can trust for quality and cutting edge technology. They are constantly pushing the envelope to create progressive new products.
Boardsports has created it’s own in-house brand of longboards under the G2 name. We have our boards built by several of the industries leading manufacturers. By creating our own brand we are able to bring you high quality made in America products without paying for the name brand.
Decks
When buying a Longboard skateboard deck, there are many differences to consider. There are the obvious differences in size and shape, but a lot more can go into a Longboard deck than that! There are many other factors to consider that are before you buy your deck.
Standard maple decks
The most common Longboard decks are built with 8 or 9 ply hard Canadian maple. These are the standard longboard decks, and they are what we will be comparing the rest of the decks to in this article. Most companies will make a standard 7 ply (there's all kinds -- from Birdhouse to blank decks), though some will make other more specialized boards as well.
How do I know what size/ shape is right for me?
Because Boardsports carries such a large selection of longboard skateboard sizes and styles it is often hard to pick the right size for your riding style. Below is a chart that outlines the various styles and sizes of longboard skateboard deck and uses for each.
By no means is this a complete assesment as the market is changing rapidly. But this guide should help you understand some of the basic principals to help you purchase a skate and get in this exciting new part of skate.
Mini Longboards
typical length 24-33"
typical use
Cruising, commuting, travel, school, tight carving on banks, old school
Mini Longboards
Cruiser Longboards
typical length 34-60-+"
typical use
Cruising, commuting, travel, school, sidewalk surfing, carving (with proper setup)
Cruiser Longboards
Pintail Longboards
typical length 34-60-+"
typical use
Cruising, commuting, travel, school, sidewalk surfing, carving (Pintails love to carve)
Pintail Longboards
Downhill/Race Longboards
typical length 40"-52"
typical use
Downhill carving, Racing
Race/Downhill boards are one of the most innovative parts of longboard skating to date. For those of you looking to push the envelope bombing hills or try your hand at racing, these are your machines.
Our recommendations-
Landyachtz Evo
Landyachtz DH Race
Landyachtz Skates
Additional Buyers Guides-
Wheel Buyers Guide- Wheel Guide
Truck Buyers Guide- Truck Guide
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